Shelby County Schools receives massive book donation

Memphis schoolchildren will take home free book for spring break

Shelby County Schools is receiving a large donation for school libraries from First Book, an organization who gives books to kids in need.

Robert Braden walks with a tall stack of boxes for volunteers to organize books at the Memphis City Schools warehouse office. Shelby County Schools is getting a large book donation for school libraries from First Book, an organization providing new books to children in need. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

Jessica Reid, from First Book in Washington, D.C., organizes books at the Memphis City Schools warehouse office. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

Thousands of Shelby County Schools students will receive a free book just in time for spring break thanks to First Book-MidSouth, a nonprofit organization that puts books in the hands of children from low-income families.

On Friday, dozens of local volunteers began a two-week effort to stack and sort 120,000 brand new books from Disney Publishing Worldwide and Hyperion Books on everything from Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Finding Nemo.

The donated books arrived at a Shelby County Schools' Jackson Avenue warehouse after the local affiliate of First Book won a national competition to register at least 300 new classrooms from schools with a child poverty rate of at least 40 percent.

First Book's Washington-based headquarters also required local affiliates to find free warehouse space to unpack and sort the books, said Lolly Easley, chairwoman of First Book-MidSouth.

"We needed to find a partner that had the space and would be open to the idea," she said. "Shelby County Schools came right to mind."

From October to December, Shelby County Schools Educational Support and Library Services Departments registered just shy of 1,700 classrooms at 161 area schools. The departments also are providing expertise during the book sorting process, ensuring that each student brings home an age-appropriate book to help build his or her personal library.

The newly registered schools and classrooms are now eligible to receive books from the First Book National Book Bank distributions, paying only for shipping costs of about 45 cents per book. Participating programs also can purchase books from the First Book Marketplace, where books are discounted 50 to 90 percent from retail prices.

"Our district goal is improving student achievement, and literacy is a No. 1 priority," said Margaret Montgomery, an educational support manager with Shelby County Schools. "This fit right into our district mission."

Prior to the 2013 merger between Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools, 26.3 percent of legacy Memphis City Schools students in grades three through eight ranked below basic in reading and literature, while 6.3 percent of their counterparts in Shelby County Schools students had the same ranking, state data show.

This local book donation effort marks one of the largest First Book donation efforts nationally. Already, about 40,000 books are in Memphis, with two more book-filled tractor-trailers expected between now and Feb. 20.

"These are very lovable reading books,"Montgomery said. "Typically Disney books are not part of our elementary education, but a child would love to read that kind of book at home with mom and dad."